Sen. Ted Cruz is saying the Supreme Court can do without a ninth justice rather than confirm President Obama’s pick, or anyone Hillary Clinton might choose. Let’s just go with a 99-member Senate and let Ted stay cozy at home in his own personal crazy town.
Which brings to mind wondering whether Hillary will stick with Obama’s choice, Merrick Garland. Don’t think she’s said. It should have been a direct debate question.
from wonkette
Legal Idiots On Hillary’s Supreme Court: We Don’t Need No Stinking Judges
abcnews:
Clinton has continued to praise Garland and call for his confirmation, before his nomination expires in December.
“I would hope that the Senate would do its job and confirm the nominee that President Obama has sent to them,” Clinton said, making her case for Garland during the third presidential debate last week. “That’s the way the Constitution fundamentally should operate. The president nominates and the Senate advises and consents, or not. But they go forward with the process.”
[….]
She offered more hints about the kind of justice she is looking for in the second debate.
“I want to appoint Supreme Court justices who understand the way the world really works, who have real life experience, who have not just been in a big law firm or clerk for a judge and then gotten on the bench,” Clinton said.
She added, “Maybe they tried some more cases and actually understand what people are up against.”
Clinton also appears to want a justice who has experience with abortion and gay marriage cases.
craig, it’s more appropriate for Hillary to continue to respect our sitting president and to prod the senate to do the work they have before them by considering his choice. anything more would be disrespectful.
Maybe I’m over thinking this, but wouldn’t any profound changes to a branch of government be challenged & end up before the Supreme Court?
Lyin’ Ted is one sour human being: The Man Who Lost To Trump.
Loser.
I agree with you Patd but wish they had pressed her in the exchange to say whether she would nominate Garland if the Senate still refuses to consider him.
SJ, guess that would put the Court in the position of ordering the Senate to consider a nomination. How would they enforce it?
back in march she said:
“He has chosen a nominee with considerable experience on the bench and in public service, a brilliant legal mind, and a long history of bipartisan support and admiration. Now, it’s up to members of the Senate to meet their own, and perform the Constitutional duty they swore to undertake,”
and here’s more of what she said in march on the importance of election with regard to scotus
Yes, PatD, she’s said it’s up to the Senate to do its job. But what if they don’t? It’s that next step I’m wondering about. If she takes office without Garland considered (a likely outcome), what then? Is Obama’s choice still legally on the table? Must she re-nominate Garland to keep him on the table? Or would she nominate someone else?
Specific and important stuff left unexplored in this campaign.
“How would they enforce it?”
find malfeasance, nonfeasance and declare them in violation of their oath of office…. suggest the body look to its rules as to members violating same. too bad scotus upon such findings can’t order jailing the perps on contempt of court until they hold hearings and vote as their constitutional duties require.
craig, perhaps the prez should now acknowledge senate in recess and based on the public pronouncements of majority leader just go ahead an appoint him*…. then let’s see the critter cacca hit the fan. my other suggestion would be for citizens to seek remedy via the courts.
* if not wanting them to have time to undo, appoint him the very last calendar day of the lame duck congress since they’ll probably not be in session at work…. for this group the word “work” isn’t part of their vocabulary
Craig
Terrific post and from your written words, please let Ted stay in his crazy town and forever be gone from Washington..
I hope HRC would stick with President Obama’s nominee. Its consistent and to me she would look like a winner if confirmed, like she stuck it out and pushed the Senate to do it’s job.. Lol, hopefully with a Democrat majority..
Trouble is, PatD, that Article II puts all the mandates on the President: “he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint … Judges of the supreme Court…”
“by and with the Advice and Consent” — there is no requirement that the Senate vote, not voting can be interpreted as withholding their consent and fulfilling their duty.
any hope in your legal pov for recess appt?
Three points:
1. Why isn’t this a huuuuuge campaign topic with the Democrats? Maybe they should spend about 50 million on advertising showing what’s going on and suggesting that we elect a democratic Senate.
2. If the Senate stays Republican, how about 4 years of totally obstructive impeachment charges and hearings against the Senate President and Judicial Chair for violating constitutional duties / malfeasance in office.
3. The President has the authority to call congress into session. Until they fill the opening(s) on the bench, President Clinton should call Congress (including Senate) back into session each and every time they leave town. During the summer, during Christmas, etc. Make them sit in their chambers until they do their job.
from the guardian:
Stop right there: assuming a Hillary Clinton victory is downright dangerous
The polls may look good, but the number of undecideds means a last-minute upset is a real possibility – and complacency plays right into Trump’s hands
divtale: “Why isn’t this a huuuuuge campaign topic with the Democrats?”
I’ve been wondering that all year, only answer I get from them is that their polling suggested the topic doesn’t resonate with voters. Still think they should have tried.
Patd, a recess appointment worth threatening, don’t think the Senate would risk a court ruling that it was legal.
This discussion requires a ruling from our House Counsel Pogo. I am merely his junior associate, plus I have to go get a root canal now. Later.
Another event for the “They Just Can’t Help Themselves” column. Illinois Senator disparages Tammy Duckworth’s family
Be sure to watch the video but be ready to gasp at any politician letting prejudice make him this stupid.
And how many divisions does the Pope have?
—Stalin
Tammy just sank that guy’s battleship.
I’ve thought a recess SCOTUS appointment would be a good way to rub the assholian Congress’ noses in the poo they’ve dropped into our government . Question is whether they will go into recess. They pulled that trick once before, gaveling into session then adjourning for the day.
Craig… great question as to what will happen to the Supreme Court nominee. We probably need someone versed in Constitutional law to answer it.
As for Ted Cruz… he can go crawl back into whatever hole he slithered out of… agree with sj… loser!
“by and with the Advice and Consent” — there is no requirement that the Senate vote, not voting can be interpreted as withholding their consent and fulfilling their duty.
boss, must disagree. how else do they as a whole advise other than by taking some kind of vote? how can they empower their leader (?) to speak for them as an entity without a vote so authorizing?
abstention and silence can also be considered consent to something.
Hamilton parody for 2016
How can Hillary support Garland and appoint Obama(either one) to the supreme court
Senators on their way to a vote are immune from everything except the House of Representatives power to vote to defund.
Ike appointed a justice, who stayed on the Court for years. Sometime ago I remember a discussion in a class regarding whether Article II required the Senate to vote on a nominee. . . . and by, and with the advice and consent of the Senate. . .. If I had been rich and not worthy of a lifetime of working for a living, I would have enjoyed Constitutional law theory as a hobby. There is so much to consider, especially the vagaries of the English language of 1700’s Colonial America. Reading the news and journals of the era while researching my ancestors has given me an appreciation of how vast the inputs to the American English language are. Just as we are constantly incorporating new words and meanings to our latest version of American English, they were doing the same. But without the benefit of electronic communication.
from daily beast:
“Ted Cruz Wants to Block a Supreme Court Justice Forever, Start Constitutional Crisis
The darling of the religious right now advocates breaking the Second Commandment, violating his oath of office, and throwing the judicial system into chaos. Oh, and he’s lying too.”
And it’s not just the Supreme Court. The Senate has quietly stonewalled judicial appointments throughout the system, causing a “judicial emergency,” a term not of political rhetoric but of a federal designation of reality. The term refers to courts with judicial caseloads are so high that they endanger access to justice. The number was 12 at the beginning of 2015 and is 36 today.
[….]
Indeed, for such a supposed constitutionalist, Cruz’s statement is constitutional treason: He’s proposing to simply ignore the Appointments Clause: “The president shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint… Judges of the Supreme Court.” Shall, not may.
And for such a supposedly religious man, Cruz has proposed flagrantly violating the Second Commandment, which prohibits taking the name of God in vain. It’s not just “doing your job,” after all, to fulfill the requirements of the constitution. When senators swear on a Bible to uphold their oath of office, they’re taking a sacred oath, in the name of God.
[….]
if Senate Republicans were to follow Ted Cruz into uncharted territory here, the unthinkable option of a recess appointment suddenly becomes that much more thinkable. Pursuant to the Recess Clause of the Constitution, “the President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.”
There is precedent for doing so: President Eisenhower did this in 1956, when the Senate was in recess, installing Justice Brennan on the Supreme Court. (He was confirmed when the Senate returned in 1957.) And while the Senate can remain in “pro forma session” to avoid a formal recess, the one time it can’t do that is when a new Senate has been elected but not sworn in. In other words, there’s a window.
Of course, as the Constitution says, the recess appointment only lasts until the end of the next legislative session. But that’s two years, during which time Justice Garland serves on the Supreme Court, absent any congressional action whatsoever. And not just Garland—President Obama could name recess appointments to the dozens of vacancies in the federal system.
That would be, to put it mildly, a contentious act. But with Republican Senators going on record in favor of a permanent stonewall, the outgoing president would have ample cover to do something, anything, to end the judicial emergency they have created.
Which Senator Cruz now proposes to ignore.
Sturgone – I did not know about Tammy’s family tree until I read that this morning. I wonder if she has it up online. It would be interesting to see if there are any intersections with others.
“by and with the Advice and Consent” — there is no requirement that the Senate vote, not voting can be interpreted as withholding their consent and fulfilling their duty. – Gracious Host
On the contrary, it can be assumed that the Senate has no objection, otherwise they would have met and said so. It’s time for the President to appoint Garland to a seat on the Supreme Court. (Actually, he should merely announce his intention to appoint in the absence of a formal rejection from the Senate)
flatus, did you see this story in today’s wapo:
Americans adopted this South Korean man when he was 3. Now 41, he’s being deported.
bbronc, re tammy in wapo:
Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), seeking to unseat GOP Sen. Mark Kirk in Illinois, invoked her family’s military service while answering a debate question.
“My family has served this nation in uniform going back to the Revolution,” Duckworth said. “I am a daughter of the American Revolution. I’ve bled for this nation. But I still want to be there in the Senate when the drums of war sound. Because people are quick to sound the drums of war, and I want to be there to say this is what it costs, this is what you’re asking us to do. . . . Families like mine are the ones that bleed first.”
Kirk was offered a chance to rebut. “I’d forgotten that your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington,” he said.
Duckworth’s mother, Lamai, is Thai, but her late father, Franklin, was a Marine veteran whose family roots in this country trace to before the American Revolution. Tammy Duckworth was severely wounded in the Iraq War, losing her legs while serving as a helicopter pilot.
As of last summer, the Senate no longer goes into recess. It merely fails to show up for work.
bbronc, here’s some more on duckworths prior arrival in Maryland & Virginia in 1700s at rootsweb
might find some kin listed there
OK, let’s start here. I’m no constitutional law scholar, but even I know that law is made in each of the 3 branches of government. The president has the right of appointment (Art. II, Section 2, clause 2) and the Senate has the role of giving advice and consent. Their role does not derive from Article 1, but rather from Article 2. I would argue that if a nominee is put to the senate for confirmation (which is not in the Constitution) and the Senate chooses not to hold a hearing on the nominee, they have acquiesced and the President would be wholly within his right to appoint and place the nominee in the position he is nominated for. I’m sure this is a minority view, but I’d tell Hillary to try it. Send it to an equally divided Court and see how it shakes out. This history of appointments from the Senate is interesting – but if written by the office of the president would likely look a lot different than this. The partisanship discussion in this article from Duke Law points out the problems of appointments in the post Bork era and the need to fix what was a collaborative process prior to that.
I believe a recess appointment would be a good idea. SCOTUS appointments by the use of recess appointments began under Washington – who appointed John Rutledge as Chief Justice in a recess appointment. Eisenhower appointed William Brennan through a recess appointment, so the precedent is there. However, Harry Reid may have screwed that up by keeping the Senate from adjourning for more than 3 days during Bush’s admin to prevent recess appointments.
I am annoyed that the republican Party wants to sell out the USA to the kgb colonel for a measly tax break.
How About One Less Senator?
Ya know, given the splits in the Republican party and Cruz’s unpopularity, I wouldn’t be suprised at all to see a primary opponent of the more business friendly moderate wing, if there is such a thing in Texas.
Jack
Jack, there is such a thing. They’re called conservative Democrats.
Does Cruz have any allies in the Senate?
Good question. In that nearly abandoned law factory on the Hill, Canada cruz and runt pol are both pretty unpopular.
Both carpetbaggers, one out of TX, and the other to replace him.
patd – one twig of the family tree would have known them. They were around Christ Church, Middlesex County, Virginia Colony in the early to mid-1700’s. Next time I am roaming around the gravestones I need to see if any of them are near the good Duckworth’s final resting places.
“have to go get a root canal now”
boss, didn’t you suffer thru a couple of those awhile back? how many canals does that make? your mouth must be a veritable venice.
BBronc
Just to give you an idea of the number of connections since revolutionary days, the surname Duckworth appears in 426,099 family trees on Ancestry.
As a fellow root canal, multiple root canal, victim, I feel your pain poobah . By now you should be back home with good drugs circulating through your system so that you can read with some degree of amusement, the rantings of us trail mixers. Hope it all went well.
Poor Mark Kirk suffering from delusional Trump syndrome and not even supporter
It seems to me that the GOP is trying to rewrite 250 years of Democratic process and bring down out Government! Surely there has to be some way of holding them accountable for their actions. How can we have serving members of Congress who care so little about our Democracy?
Pat: This is a great point from that article “… It’s not just “doing your job,” after all, to fulfill the requirements of the constitution. When senators swear on a Bible to uphold their oath of office, they’re taking a sacred oath, in the name of God.” So, basically the GOP are now thumbing their nose at both God & Country. Their predecessors must be so proud :/
Jamie: That disgusting attack against Duckworth just proves that members of the GOP have no character!
Craig: Great post! I seem to recall in the last debate that Hillary did repeat her support for President Obama’s nominee Garland. At this point, it wouldn’t be prudent of her to reveal if she would name someone other than Garland when she takes office. Just my opinion, but I think she’s being smart about this question. PS: Hope your root canal isn’t too painful 🙁
Good economic news, which is completely contrary to Trump’s idiotic meme on the economy..
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2016/10/28/u-s-economy-grew-at-annual-pace-of-2-9-percent-in-the-third-quarter-exceeding-expectations/?tid=a_breakingnews?tid=a_breakingnews&hpid=hp_no-name_no-name%3Apage%2Fbreaking-news-bar
( sorry for the link, but I can’t use the link function on my phone).
CNN sucks– this has nothing to do with calls from Congress you are worse than msnbc
Comey did not say reckless he said careless
Comey will go down in history as a guy who sold out his principles
This is the work of Trump supporters in the FBI the new emails are made up or fabricated and dissidents within the FBI
have used this to force Comey to notify congress “new evience” had been found
isn’t the timing just a little suspicious in the end it will be nothing
Clinton needs to get out in front of this in the most transparent way
Trump’s twitter feed is full of stuff supposedly coming from inside the FBI about agents who wanted to proceed but Comey wouldn’t let them this has been going on for weeks — this is a set up and Comey is the dupe
Once again the attacks on HRC make my blood boil. As I said before, it was dumb to use a personal server. That is a given, even by Hillary now. The classification of records is where things can be so complicated. In my case if I wrote something about my project it would be either unclassified or very highly classified, depending solely on where I wrote it. It depends on the agency and more. Right now the witch hunt (and I mean that in the most Nasty Woman way) is resumed. With expectations that it will last into the lame duck session. Maybe cruz can shut down the government until late January to force Coumey to spew forth something bad.
This could have the opposite impact of energizing her voters (fingers crossed)
The GOP is the party of juvenile bullies. These are the same kids who quit playing games because they were losing and cried after losing fights they started. They now inhabit adult bodies but emotionally they stopped developing in their teens, if not earlier.
Comey is a ripper, and the trumperoos are trying to take his scalp.
prior to the Comey letter this is the type of thing Trump was spewing
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump 3h3 hours ago
“@Jmoschetti1363: @Johnatsrs1949 FBI must be outraged that their hands r tied she has no regard or t secret service, FBI, or (Dallas)police”
you know this is a set up
Bink, BINGO!
Paul Krugman @paulkrugman 1h1 hour ago
It’s bad enough having the media do the “raises questions,” substance-free innuendo thing. Worse when the FBI director does it. Disgraceful
Great story in the Daily Beast about a couple of guys spoofing the far right. You have to see the website Real True News.
If this investigation doesn’t uncover crimes that result in jail time for Clinton then Comey needs to be removed from office. To open up an investigation on one of the major candidates for president just 2 weeks before elections? It is just not done.
Jack
OMG
We have now dug down to Weiner Wanker sending emails on his Carlos Danger device being reviewed by FBI so the right wing Reynolds Wrap wearers will stop yelling at him.
Can we please just hold this election tomorrow?
Great Tweet: Absolute proof the Clintons are not murderers: Anthony Weiner is still alive.
KC, “isn’t the timing just a little suspicious “? A little? ~~~
Jack, yes, he should.
When does this start to get into the realm of slander and libel, legally? When do people start to say enough is enough? This is the worst I’ve ever seen and there seems to be no end to it. Is this something we’ve seen before? Is this how Nazis took over, by accusing people they didn’t like of anything that popped into their pointy heads until eventually they convinced their citizens that it was OK to kill the people they didn’t like? Whatever happened to “never again!”
Comey must data dump what he’s talking about. Clinton camp should demand that.
this story is baloney there is nothing connected to Clinton
Thankfully, it turned out, I did not need a root canal just a crown. Although there is another tooth were investigating for possible root canal. If I could sue God for malpractice, it would be for teeth and knees. He did a terrible job on both.
question on that so-called “anti catholic” email dated 2011 between halpin and palmieri: that predates the campaign so why relevant?
question on email dump in general: since it was purloined, stolen, and thereby tainted, how is it acceptable as evidence?
Can we please just hold this election tomorrow?
Jamie…. AMEN!
Maybe it’s just the rainy weather affecting me… but today I’m so sick and tired of this campaign that I could puke. But even if I have to crawl… I will be at the polls voting for all Democrats come Nov. 8th.
Until then… Go Cubbies! Go Indians! Go Patriots!
Would welcome a post for tomorrow from anyone with Hillary point of view on this Comey stuff. If you leave it to me you might not like it.
Obama should pay heed to this old tactic as described in a 2007 story in politico:
On 27 occasions, presidents have called both houses into session to deal with a crisis. The most recent of these special sessions — and the first one since 1856 — met at the behest of President Harry S. Truman on this day in 1948.
With less than four months remaining before Election Day, Truman’s approval rating stood at 36 percent. His GOP opponent, New York Gov. Thomas Dewey, looked like a sure winner.
So in search of a bold political gesture, the president turned to the provision in the Constitution that allows the president “on extraordinary occasions” to convene one or both houses of Congress. And Congress at that time was controlled by the GOP.
In accepting the Democratic presidential nomination at 1:45 a.m. in a stifling Philadelphia convention hall, Truman stunned delegates by calling on the Republican majority to live up to its party platform by passing laws that bolstered civil rights, extended Social Security and created a national health care program. “They can do this job in 15 days if they want to do it,” he said.
[….]
That decision presented Truman with a campaign theme: He railed against the “do-nothing 80th Congress.” Against all odds, Truman went on to win in November in a four-way race against Dewey, Strom Thurmond of South Carolina and former Vice President Henry Wallace.
would love to see our president deem the current situation to be an “extraordinary occasion” that we are suffering a judicial crisis and convene congress to fulfill their constitutional duty.
Pogo
The timing of the economic good news is not good in that it gives the Fed the excuse it has wanted to boost the discount rate. That’s all we need with a virtually nil increase in military salaries and pensions and, SS.
from business insider
John Podesta, the chairman of the Clinton campaign, called on FBI Director James Comey to “immediately provide the American people more information than what is contained in his letter.”
“Upon completing this investigation more than three months ago, FBI Director Comey declared no reasonable prosecutor would move forward with a case like this and added that it was not even a close call,” Podesta said in a statement.
Podesta continued: “In the months since, Donald Trump and his Republican allies have been baselessly second-guessing the FBI and, in both public and private, browbeating the career officials there to revisit their conclusion in a desperate attempt to harm Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.”
“Already, we have seen characterizations that the FBI is ‘reopening’ an investigation but Comey’s words do not match that characterization,” the chairman added. “Director Comey’s letter refers to emails that have come to light in an unrelated case, but we have no idea what those emails are and the Director himself notes they may not even be significant.”
Podesta, who has had his own personal emails published online in the past several weeks as the result of a hack, said it’s “extraordinary” that such a situation would happen “11 days out from a presidential election.”
“The director owes it to the American people to immediately provide the full details of what he is now examining,” he wrote. “We are confident this will not produce any conclusions different from the one the FBI reached in July.”
podesta got it right demanding comey data dump, suspect this could undermine Huma further. I’ve said it before, she and Cheryl Mills must go.
“If you leave it to me you might not like it.”
boss, rant away. just know that we will hold you responsible if your words result in depressing the vote and the unthinkable becomes president.
Comey and his family have flown to Ecuador to celebrate Hallowe’en.
Craig
Sent you one armed with my total cynicism of all that is politics.
thanks Jamie
I quit watching the Anthony Weiner documentary on Showtime recently because I found both he and Huma to be cynical and soulless opportunists, unwatchable. New York City voters were correct in rejecting them.
Tweety sucks big time
Poobah, amen to that.
Flatus, when does the fed meet again? Hopefully not in the next week. I believe it’s better to have a growing economy and slightly higher interest rates (hopefully my borrowing days are over) than a sluggish economy and low overnight bank rates. Besides, My CDs might recover a bit.
Patd, stolen evidence is only precluded if it’s the government doing the stealing, and even that’s not absolute.
Jamie, I hope your piece for tomorrow isn’t titled “Drip, Drip, Drip.”
POgo
It comes with a Porky Pig cartoon
Chuck Load has his trump pal on and did not laugh out loud when this clown said Michigan and New Mexico are in play
Jamie. abadee, abadee that’s all folks .
Wow… go to work & stay in a bubble for 10 hours … turn on the Toronto all news station for the ride home … and ….
(Love the Canadian News Stations. So factual. So polite. )
Bink…….sadly enough, they’re much worse than that.
Norwegian friend of mine calls their counterparts in Norway Boxhead Norwegians.
ive read extensively of the interplay and wars in the Greek city states up to and perhaps a bit after the advent of the Macedonians, Phill and his son Alex. Sparta, Athens, Corinth, Argos……and so on……(After Alex it pretty much begins to become Roman History, haha)…..what’s happening in America right now has happened to and within every one of those city states…….it’s an old sad song……
Humans just can’t seem to keep all their shit in one sock.
Themistocles spinning in his grave right now, you just compared him to Republicans.
I think someone in the FBI has been feeding Trump information
Why else would he have made the Weiner remarks as he did frequently. he is not that clever
We’re all republicans……..
small r republicans maybe
We are cheering for the Cleveland Apaches tonight
KGC
Comey letter does not mention Weiner but in less than an hour, Weiner is not only named but info that Abedin email address was in his laptop and there were emails to be reviewed.
FBI staffers have been leaking to GOP for months.
Above is the letter sent back to Comey by the Democratic members of the original investigative committee.
After all, he did advocate for building strong walls……
He probably told them he was going to make Sparta pay for ’em…….
People like Themistocles don’t really have a party…..it’s a party of one and the rest is just bidness…….
Diogenes, then.
Alcibiades wants to build a wall at Decelea. He’ll put boots on the ground in Sicily.
Solar , you asked what if the Bundy a-holes were native Americans or black Lives matter protesters ? North Dakota answers that question. Arrested . We’ll see how that works out.
Rats
Hate to say it , but Hillary needs to tell Huma she loves her, but…
Assuming she survives this bs, Hillary’s 1st call should be to Comey. Goes like this , “I expect your letter of resignation on my desk tomorrow morning.”
Screw the Director of the FBI. I just marked and mailed my ballot for Clinton. I would like to be a fly on the wall at their first meeting after she is sworn in.
Favorite tweet of the night before hitting the sack: “It’s October and I’m surprised that an arrogant ignorant racist sexual predator is talked about as a serious alternative to the most qualified candidate ever.”
she can’t fire him he has a set term of office